Columbus resident and Indiana University redshirt sophomore Michael Brinegar won the Elite 5K Sunday in the West Coast Open Water Championships at Lake Las Vegas in Henderson, Nevada. Brinegar finished in 54 minutes, 42.79 seconds. A day earlier, he finished third in the Elite 10K in 1:35:06.71, less than 8 seconds behind the winner, 2016 and 2021 United States Olympian Jordan Wilimovsky. Brinegar had qualified for the USA Swimming Open Water Nationals, and Beyer and Cortez had qualified for the USA Swimming Open Water Junior Nationals that were canceled earlier in 2020 because of COVID-19. The West Coast Open Water Championships served as the first major open water competition in 2020 and attracted most of the top senior and junior open water swimmers in the country and included swimmers from 19 states. Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners